Making Clean Station Baskets

I have been asked several times if Stratasys sells extra cleaning baskets.

While I am sure there is a way to order more, I always suggest printing one instead. The cleaning baskets supplied with Stratasys SRS Clean Stations are durable and stainless steel, but they are a standard 4″ x 4″ x 4″ size.

Here is a great opportunity to build the size you want (need) and try some SOLIDWORKS features you may rarely use or may not know about.

Starting with this simple SOLIDWORKS example, we can take a break from detailed math and symmetry on this part. After making a basic extruded rectangle, centered at the origin, I made a diamond shaped sketch on the front face of my box and Extrude Cut through all (both walls).

For fun, I used SOLIDWORKS Fill Pattern instead of a Linear Pattern, by selecting the vertical face for the sketch and boom, diamond hole pattern made easy.

I repeated the same steps for the sides and floor. Just like that I had the lower half of my clean basket complete.

Next, I made a life in much the same way with intentions to use the free interlock produced from layer lines to hold the halves together. In this example I used 0.064″ wall thicknesses in effort to keep as much of the cleaning solution out of printed clean basket as possible. You can use any size diamond hole and wall thickness you like.

I’ve mentioned using diamond holes in a previous post; now here’s a chance to use them and see what you think. The diamond holes use self-supporting angles which allows them to print without the need of supports.

Example of diamond shaped holes after processing in Insight.

Example of circular holes after processing in Insight.

I prefer to process STLs in Insight software and use one of our Fortus machines so I can control toolpaths and make stronger parts. I have adopted a 0.064″ wall for many of my DDM projects because I can eliminate rasters and produce what I believe are stronger walls with better fill.

Example of a layer with rasters within the wall.

Notice the rasters and air gaps in this layer. I want to have as little space within the walls as possible. So, I will go to toolpaths on the main menu and select Setup.

I’m using a slice height of 0.010″, so I select the Contour width drop down and scroll to 0.032″.

This setting will replace the rasters seen above with two contours at 0.032″, making a solid wall and smooth running toolpaths.

Custom Groups could be used as well. For this model, using toolpath set up and changing the contours globally was just as effective. Even when we get down to a layer with the diamond holes, a solid filled wall is maintained.

Catalyst and GrabCAD Print can also be used to process clean baskets STLs for uPrint or Dimensions printers as well. However, you won’t have control of the toolpaths like you would in Insight. I would recommend using an even wall thickness like 0.060″ or 0.080″ so toolpaths in these programs have a better chance to fill solid. There will still be rasters, but that is the nature of programs that don’t have editing capabilities.

This project is just an example, you can choose the size and shape you want and need. You can add extra features like hinges, tabs and different locking methods to suit your design needs.